India elections, South Korea CPI

India stocks slumped to lead Asia markets lower Tuesday, as the country started counting votes for its 2024 general election.

The world’s most populous country started counting votes at 8 a.m. local time, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi projected to win a rare third consecutive term as per the exit polls.

The Nifty 50 index was down 3.5% while BSE Sensex fell 1.5%, after the main stocks gauges in India hit record highs on Monday.

Over the weekend, local exit polls projected Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance winning a decisive majority in the lower house of the parliament.  

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.22%, while the broader Topix dipped 0.24%.

South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.47% and the smaller-cap Kosdaq reversed earlier declines to rise 0.8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.31% higher, while the CSI 300 index added 0.4%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.19%.